Page 20 of Holmes Is Missing
She sent another text.
LADIES ROOM. NOW. HIDE THERE.
Keelin almost dropped her phone when the text arrived. She stood up and walked from the carpeted waiting area onto the concourse. The lavatories were only about fifteen yards ahead, past a Cinnabon stand. Marple followed close behind. But not too close.
As Dale walked through the curved entry to the women’s side, Marple hung back long enough to pull a yellow mop bucket out of a utility alcove and stretch a mop handle across it to partly block the entrance. It was as close to an out-of-order sign as she could manage on the spot.
When she stepped into the lavatory, a woman with a large backpack was washing her hands at one of the sinks. Of the fivestalls along the wall, only one was occupied. The woman held her hands under the air dryer for a few seconds, then finished the job by wiping her hands on her Giants sweatshirt as she walked out.
Marple leaned against the sink directly opposite the closed stall. She pulled out the unmarked prescription bottle from Keelin’s apartment and shook out the contents. She could hear shallow breathing from inside. The tips of a pair of stylish shoes were just visible under the door.
Marple sent another text.
COME OUT. BE CAREFUL.
She heard a muffled, “Oh, Jesus.” Then a flush. The door latch turned. Keelin Dale stepped out of the stall, eyes wide, arms tight to her sides, clearly terrified.
Marple extended her hand and opened her palm. It was filled with oval blue pills.
“Nurse Dale,” she said. “Any more where these came from?”
CHAPTER25
POE KNEW THEYhad to work quickly and carefully to stay on the right side of the law. Technically, this was a conversation, not an interrogation. The trick was to keep Keelin Dale from recognizing the difference.
Marple had extracted the frazzled nurse from behind the security barrier with a vague threat of exposing her as a drug thief. Now the three of them were sitting in a cluster of public seating in front of a wall of glass near the main airport entrance.
“Who are you?” asked Dale. “Are you the police?”
Poe could see how nervous and flustered the nurse was. He glided right past her legitimate question. “Let’s not talk about us,” said Poe. “Let’s talk about you.”
“The pills,” said Marple, following up quickly. “We’ve traced them to you.”
“How?” asked Dale. Her hands were clasped so tightly her fingertips looked scarlet.
“Never mind how,” said Poe. “Did you take them from St. Michael’s?”
“God, no!” said Dale. “Do you know how hard it is to get drugs from a hospital these days?” She shook her head. “It’s like Fort Knox in there.”
Marple held off for a few seconds, then tipped the next domino. “Easier to steal babies, right?”
Dale bit her lower lip. Her pale skin blanched, making her freckles stand out even more. “Omigod, omigod…” she mumbled. She tried to avoid eye contact, but Poe leaned over to stare right at her, pressing the advantage.
“You’re an addict, Keelin. We’re very familiar with the type. Poor judgment is one of the symptoms. So is risk-taking behavior.”
“Somebody found your weakness,” said Marple. “Promised you a lifetime supply of Halcion. Enough to deal, if you wanted, and make a tidy profit. No more fake scrips. All you needed to do was provide some simple information about the maternity unit.”
Dale was in tears now. “They said nobody would get hurt. They promised the babies would be ransomed in no time. They only picked babies with rich parents.”
“Richwhiteparents,” said Marple.
“That wasn’t my idea!”
“Whose ideawasit, Keelin?” asked Poe. “Who are we talking about? Who’s behind this?”
“Who’s your contact?” asked Marple. “Do you have a name?”
She and Poe were playing off each other, ping-ponging their questions before Dale could catch a breath.